Amusement device including spherical balls and track therefore with obscured depressions therein

ABSTRACT

Various forms of game toys comprise a generally descending track down which a plurality of differently-colored balls or toy cars roll. Rises spaced along the descending track allow balls or cars to stop and remain at certain stations where they are hidden from view in a tunnel until they are struck by later-released balls or cars which then remain stopped. Thus a ball or car rolling into a tunnel ejects a differently-colored ball or car from the tunnel, creating an illusion that the ball or car changed color as it rolled through the tunnel.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,801,094 Treaster Apr. 2, 1974 AMUSEMENTDEVICE INCLUDING 3,514,894 6/1970 Novak 272/8 R x SPHERICAL BALLS ANDTRACK 8 f 4 THEREFORE WITHOBSCURED l 9 Slutz er 6/43 X DEPRESSIONSTHEREIN FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [76] Inventor; Mahlon LTreaster, R No 2 340,321 5/1904 France 46/43 Harpursvme, 137 1,164,8973/1964 Germany 273/120 R [22] Filed: 1972 Primary Examiner-Richard C.Pinkham [21] Appl. No.: 226,728 Assistant Examiner-R. T. Stouffer [52]US. Cl. 272/8 R, 46/43, 46/202, [57] ABSTRACT 46/221 Various forms ofgame toys compnse a generally deg A63] 5/00 A63h 33/09 scending trackdown which a plurality of differently- 1 o earch 272/8 8 8 colored ballsor toy cars roll. Rises spaced along the 3 3 120 35/19 46/42 descendingtrack allow balls or cars to stop and re- 0 /5 253 main at certainstations where they are hidden from view in a tunnel until they arestruck by later-released [56] References cued balls or cars which thenremain stopped. Thus a ball UNITED STATES PATENTS or car rolling into atunnel ejects a differently-colored 2,416,473 2/1947 Fields 104/253 ballor car from the tunnel, creating an illusion that 2,239,030 4/1941Biddle 274/120 R the ball or car changed color as it rolled through the3,593,454 7 1971 Einfalt 46/202 x tunneL 3,154,024 10/1964 Einfalt104/60 3,002,294 10/1961 Jackson 35/19 R 7 Claims, 15 Drawing FiguresPATENTED 2 974 SHEU 2 OF 3 FIG.6

MENTED APR 2 I974 SHEEI 3 BF 3 FIG. 9b

AMUSEMENT DEVICE INCLUDING SPHERICAL BALLS AND TRACK THEREFORE WITHOBSCURED DEPRESSIONS THEREIN My invention relates to game toys, andparticularly to inexpensive game apparatus which requires no skill touse and may be enjoyed by persons of all ages, including personswatching as well as participants. The game provides an illusion that amoving object has suddenly changed color which is amusing to observe.

FIG. 1 is a side view of an elementary form of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view taken at lines 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section view taken at lines 33 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4a is a section view taken at lines 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4b is a view similar to FIG. 4a illustrating an alternateconstruction.

FIG. 40 is a view similar to FIG. 4a illustrating a further alternateconstruction.

FIG. 5 is an end view of a modified form of game apparatus utilizing asimplified track construction.

FIGS. 6a and 6b are plan and side elevation views, respectively, of afurther form of the invention utilizing a helical descending track.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a toy car situated on a section of descendingtrack.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of a toy car provided with spring-type front andrear bumpers, where the front bumper also operates as braking means.

FIGS. 9a and9b are plan and side views, respectively, of a modified formof toy car which may be used.

FIG. 90 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a modified form of track foruse with the car of FIGS. 9a and 9b.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an electricallypowered toy which maybe used with a further form of the invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4a, the apparatus will be seen to comprise aback panel 10 which is held in a generally vertical plane by base legs11, 12 to which panel 10 is preferably hinged, as at 13, and foldingbrackets 14, 15 (only 15 is visible in FIG. 1) connected between eachbase leg and panel 10 serve to hold panel 10 erect, yet allow theapparatus to be folded into a generally flat form for storage. Mountedon the front of panel 10 are a plurality of sections of descending track16, labelled 16a through 16f. As best seen in FIG. 3, each section oftrack includes a base portion 16g down which a ball 17 may roll, and anupwardly-extending flange portion 16h which prevents the ball fromrolling away from panel I0 and off the track. It is not at all necessarythat the track sections have the rectangular cross-section shown in FIG.3, and several alternative cross-sections are shown in FIGS. 6b and 7.It is desirable that the side flange of the track sections projectupwardly enough to insure that balls rolling down the track sectionsstay on the track, but also that a large portion of a ball be visiblefrom in front of panel 10 as it rolls along a track section. End strips18 and 19 are provided at the sides of panel 10.

Spaced along each of various sections of track is a tunnel or stationinto which the track section extends, the tunnels in FIG. 1 beinglabelled 21 through 26. Each tunnel covers a length of the section oftrack with which it is associated, and is opaque so as to obscure anyballs within a tunnel from the view of players situated in front of theapparatus. Tunnels 22 and 24 are shown in phantom in FIG. 2. Situatedwithin each tunnel is a ball-retarding or obstacle means, and such meansmay take a variety of forms. In FIG. 4a the ballretarding means is shownas comprising a simple hole may comprisea springfriction device, such asspring arm 29 riveted to the tunnel roof and friction pad 29a. Whicheverform of ball-retarding is used, it is arranged in relation to the weightof the balls used and the slope of the preceding track section, so thatone or more balls lying within a given tunnel will remain in that tunneluntil struck by another ball from the rear, and so that a ball whichenters a tunnel and strikes the rear ball of a group of balls situatedin the tunnel will eject the forward one of theballs of the group fromthe tunnel, leaving the other balls of the group and the just-enteringball at rest within the tunnel. The game is preferably played with agroup of balls all having the same size and weight, but each of adifferent color, and at the start of the game, groups of balls areloaded into each tunnel in random fashion, so that the players areunaware of the colors of the different balls in each tunnel.

In the play of the game, a player places a ball of a given color at thetop end 30 of the upper track section 16a and releases it. The ballrolls down track 16a and enters tunnel 21, striking the set of ballsthen stored in tunnel 21 and ejecting the from one of the stored ballsfrom tunnel 21, so that the latter drops down onto track section 16b,and then rolls down track section 16b, eventually ejecting the front oneof the balls stored in tunnel 22, and so forth, with balls successivelybeing ejected from tunnels 23, 24 and 25, and one ball eventuallyrolling down track section 16f to a final stop. When a ball reaches afinal stop at the end of track section 16f, it will be seen that thesame number of balls will be stored in each tunnel as originally, butwith each group of balls having a different set of colors. The nextplayer then can release a ball from point 30, and similar phenomenaoccur, with different color changes, of course. Each time a ball entersa tunnel, a differentlycolored ball immediately emerges, providing anillusion that the same ball changed color as it rolled through thetunnel.

While the device shown in FIG. 1 has each tunnel sit uated at the lowerend of its associated track section, some or all of the tunnels mayinstead be located elsewhere along a track section, so that a descendingtrack both enters and emerges from a tunnel. Also, while the differenttrack sections are shown having similar slopes in FIG. 1, it ispossible, and within the scope of the invention, to provide differentslopes, so that discernible changes in acceleration or decelerationoccur between the different track sections. If the balls enter differenttunnels at different speeds, it will be apparent that the ball-retardingmeans in different tunnels may have to provide different amounts ofdeceleration.

An exemplary set of rules for playing and scoring using the device ofFIG. 1 will now be set forth. It is assumed that the game uses aplurality of balls, all of the same size and weight, but with a widevariety of colors, and with the color of a given ball indicating itsscore value. A number may be printed on each ball to also indicate itsscore value.

After one or several balls are loaded into each tunnel the remainingballs are placed in a container (not shown) and each player draws a ballfrom the container, without looking inside, and the relative number(i.e., color) of the ball he draws specifies the order in which he willplay relative to the other players. To play, a player places his ball atthe starting place on the upper track, i.e., at point 30 in FIG. 1, andreleases it. Different colors of balls advance down successive trackportions in the manner previously described, and one ball eventuallyemerges at the bottom. The player is given a score corresponding to thecolor of that ball. if desired, he can also be given a scorecorresponding to the color of the ball he released. The players play inturn a predetermined number of times, and the player having-the highesttotal score is the winner. More com- 7 plex sets of rules may bedevised, if desired. Inasmuch as the most-leftward ball stored in tunnel25 is always the next ball to emerge, it is particularly desirable thatit, and the other balls in that tunnel be effectively hidden from view.Rules may be devised so that the players will benefit if they canpredict or guess when higher valve balls will be the next to emerge fromtunnel 25, and rules may be devised so that the players bid on the rightto play the next ball, and so that their scores are adjusted upwardly ordownwardly depending upon their success in predicting the color of theball which emerges when they play. If desired, the container (not shown)from which the players draw balls may be formed at the lower end oftrack section 16f, so that the ball which emerges each time from tunnel25 automatically returns into the container. Rules may be devised sothat balls which leave tunnels other than the last tunnel also determinea players score. The tunnels may be arranged so that different numbersof balls remain in different tunnels.

In FIG. panel a leans rearwardly and is supported by a simple foldingprop in stepladder fashion. The

I track sections are formed by simple flat strips edgemounted on panel10a to project perpendicularly therefrom, with each strip descending asit extends across the panel. With panel 10a tilted and the stripsextending perpendicularly to the panel, it will be seen that each stripand the panel form a V-groove track section down which the balls mayroll. Though not shown in FIG. 5, tunnels of the type described are, ofcourse, situated along some or all of the V-groove track sections.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6a and 6b the descending track 40is shown formed as a helix rather than leading back and forth in oneplane as in FIG. 1. The track is shown as comprising a helically-woundangle shape which provides a V-groove down which the balls may roll,although it is to be understood that the track cross-section need not bea V-groove in shape. The upper end 400 of track 40 is fastened to thetop of a box 41, and successive turns of the helix pass through pairs ofholes 44, 44 in the box as shown. Bracket 42 stiffens the structure andmaintains the turns of the helix at their correct slopes. The lower endof the helical track terminates in a bumper or stop plate 43. It will beunderstood that each passage of the helical track through the boxprovides a hidden ball storage area similar in function to the tunnelsprovided in FIG. 1, and it will be understood that ball-retarding meansare installed at some or all of the track sections inside box 41. Itwill be apparent that the helix pitch need not be uniform, and ifdesired the helix can vary in diameter, and can have an elliptical oroblong configuration rather than a circular configuration. Differentball speeds at different hidden areas within the box may requiredifferent adjustment of the various ball-retarding means, of course. Itis also important to note that an additional box of the same generaltype as box 41 may be placed where bracket 42 is shown, for example, sothat each turn of the helical track passes through two such boxes, andobviously more than two boxes may be used. Further, the use of a helicaldescending track does not require the use of boxes, which provide thehidden areas in one or more vertical stacks. If desired, a helical coiltrack may be supported with two or more brackets like bracket 42,open-ended tunnels may be fastened at selected places along the track,and the boxes dispensed with.

Conservation of linear momentum indicates that the velocities of twoballs which collide before and after a direct central impact can beexpressed as where v v are velocities before impact and v v arevelocities after impact. Since the two balls are not perfectly elastic,their relative velocity after impact differs from their relativevelocity before impact by (2) The coefficient of restitution dependsupon the material of which the balls are made. Typical values of e forglass, ivory, steel and cast iron are 0.95, 0.89, 0.55 and 0.50,respectively. Assuming the two balls have identical masses, and solvingequations (1) and (2) simultaneously, it will be seen that after movingball No. l strikes stationary ball No. 2, the velocity v of ball No. 1will be v (l -e)/2 and that of ball No. 2 will be v l+e )/2. if theballs were perfectly elastic (i.e., e=l .0) it will be seen that thevelocity of ball No. 2 after impact would equal the velocity v whichball No. i had prior to impact, and that the velocity of ball No. 1would be zero. From this it will be apparent that less effectiveball-retarding means may be used if the balls are made of a materialhaving a high coefficient of restitution. If the balls have a very lowcoefficient of restitution, the velocity v, of ball No. 1 after impactwill be very slightly less than half the velocity it had prior toimpact, and the velocity v of ball No. 2 after impact will be veryslightly greater than half the velocity which ball No. 1 had prior toimpact, so that both balls will travel essentially together, with thelead ball No. 2 gradually pulling further ahead of ball No. 1. If theballs were perfectly inelastic, both would travel along together afterimpact at one-half the velocity ball No. 1 had prior to impact. Theabove theoretical discussion applies rigorously only to a pair of ballswhich are not subject of other forces, such as rolling friction, and itassumes collision on a level surface by direct central impact. Sinceboth balls are carried on a generally-descending track in the forms ofthe invention thus far described, gravitational acceleration would tendto roll a previouslymoving ball even if the balls were perfectlyelastic, and hence use of a ball-retarding means is necessary,irrespective of the coefficient of restitution of the balls.

While the invention thus far has been described in connection withsimple round balls, it will now become apparent that major principles ofthe invention are applicable if other types of rolling objects are used.One alternative form of rolling objects which have particular appeal, tomany small children particularly, are toy or model automobiles orsimilar vehicles equipped with freely-turning wheels so that they willreadily roll down an inclined track. Using the same basic principles asthe ball game apparatus of FIG. 1, a descending track along whichdifferent colored model cars can roll may include one or more tunnels orhidden areas with carretarding means, so that a car entering one suchtunnel bumps one or more similar cars of different color stationedtherein and ejects the front car from the tunnel. Inasmuch as a car ofone color enters the tunnel and a car of another color immediatelyemerges therefrom, an illusion is created that the tunnel changed thecolor of a car, and the tunnel may be pleasurably visualized by youngerminds as an Instant Paintshop."

FlG. 7 illustrates one form of model car 50 carried on a section ofdescending track 51. The toy car is preferably made of metal or plastic(and preferably weighted if made of plastic) and may have either metalor rubber tires. The tires or wheels of the toy car, especially if theyare rubber, are preferably contained within the body sides so that norotating part of the car will rub against the vertical flange of thetrack and decelerate the car. If desired, the track face may be slopedoutwardly as shown at 52 so that a hard, non-rotating portion, if any,of the car engages the track edge, causing less friction anddeceleration. It is also desirable that either the lateral extremitiesof the car comprise smooth rounded edges, as at 53, 53, so that the carwill tend to make point or line contact with a track wall rather thanarea contact when the car engages a wall, or that the wall height andshape be arranged so that point or line contact occurs. While FIG. 7illustrates the use of both such arrangements for reducing friction, itwill be apparent that only one or the other orditransferred from the carwhich bumped it. It should be noted that the angle at which the bumpersof the two cars engage depends in part on the type of carretardingprovision which is maintaining the stationary car in place. Assumingthat each car tunnel or paintshop contains a single stationary car, itwill be seen that use of a track depression into which only the frontwheels of the stationary car extend will tilt that car somewhat in anose-down direction relative to the general angle of the track, whileuse of a longer track depression accommodating both front and rearwheels of the stationary car will avoid that nose-down pitching of thecar. Conversely, use of an upward bump or rise on the track as acar-retarding means can cause a nose-up pitching of the stationary car.Spring-friction means engaging opposite sides of the stationary car canbe arranged at a selected height so that no upward or downward pitchingoccurs, and so that a large proportion of the momentum of the moving caris transferred to propel the stationary car.

If the cars were all identical and perfectly elastic, each collisionwould result in the previously-moving car coming to a dead stop and inthe car which was struck proceeding forwardly with all the momentum thepreviously-moving car had at the moment of impact, less the energyrequired to push the struck car past its car-retarding means. In actualpractice the cars are not exactly identical, of course, but haveslightly differing frictional characteristics. Nor are the carsperfectly elastic, of course, and some energy is dissipated during eachcollision. As in the case of rolling balls, less effective car retardingmeans may be used if the cars have a high coefficient of restitution sothat the car moving prior to impact comes nearer to a dead stop uponimpact, but some form of car-retarding means is ordinarily necessary toprevent gravitational acceleration of stopped cars. The coefficient ofrestitution of the toy cars need not be governed simply by materialselection. irrespective of what material the toy car body is formedfrom, the coefficient of restitution governing toy car impact may beincreased by use of spring-suspended bumpers on the cars. FIG. 8illustrates a toy car having spring-type front and rear bumpers. The useof a spring rear bumper increases the effective coefficient ofrestitution when the car is nar ilyTed be as'd; The width of the trackmust be limited, of course, so that the cars cannot turn so much as tobecome wedged between the sides of the track. When curved tracks areused they preferably include banked portions to also minimize frictionalcontact with the sides of the track.

The shapes, sizes and placement of both the front and rear bumpers ofthe toy cars is important for proper operation. When the front bumper ofa rolling car strikes the rear bumper of a stationary car, it isimportant that the front bumper not ride up over or down under the rearbumper so as to snag the two cars together. Further, it is desirablethat the moving car front bumper apply force to the stationary car alonga line which passes near the center-of-gravity of the stationary car, sothat the momentum of the moving car pushes the stationary car forward,rather than appreciably up or down. The waste of some energy during eachcollision is not any crucial problem, however, since a large portion ofthe kinetic energy which a mov-' ing car has prior to impact is due togravitational acceleration acting during its run rather than beingenergy bumped from the rearITifFl GTFfiafburhprfi isattached to a fixedtab 57 on the bottom of the car by means of two U-shaped leaf springs56, 56, which compress when the rear bumper is struck by a moving car.The front bumper 58' functions not only to increase the elasticity ofthe impact, but also as a brake. Shaft 59 extending rearwardly fromfront bumper 58 slidably passes through slots in two depending tabs 60,61, and the rear end of shaft 59 is attached to fixed tab 62 by springmeans shown as compression spring 63. Shaft 59 and the slots in tabs 60,61 are non-circular so that the shaft and bumper cannot rotate. Across-arm 64 is rigidly affixed to shaft 59 and extends in front of bothfront wheels 65, 66. Upon impact with a stationary car, front bumper S8pushes rearwardly against the spring force of spring 63, and cross-arm64 eventually frictionally engages one or both front wheels of thecar,

helping brake the car to a stop. It will be apparent that either leafsprings or coil springs may be used to springsuspend the car bumpers,and that the bumpers themselves can constitute leaf springs or the like.Further, it will be apparent that by extending shaft'59 furtherrearwardly and providing another cross-arm lyingnormally in front of thecar rear wheels, four-wheel braking may be provided.

FIGS. 9a and 9b illustrate a modified form of toy car which may be usedwith a track which snakes back and forth in a single plane generallysimilar to the track of FIG. 1. Several sections of such a track areshown in FIG. 90 at 61, 62, with the track side flange and tunnelsomitted. The end of one section of track and the beginning of the otherare preferably curved as shown, so that travel from one track section tothe next results in an inversion of the toy car, as if the driver of thecar were performing an outside loop. The toy car is provided with wheelsboth on its top and its bottom. After the car reaches the end of a tracksection which proceeds in one direction across the board, it inverts andreturns across the board. The top half of the car may be coloreddifferently than the lower half, and the side flange of the trackpreferably extends upwardly high enough to block a view of whicheverhalf is down. Thus as the car proceeds back and forth across the boardit appears to change color each time it inverts.

FIG. 10 illustrates schematically a control arrangement for toy vehicleswhich may be used like the previously-described toy vehicles, but whichuses electrically-powered toy vehicles rather than being powered bygravity, so that the same'procedure may be used'on tracks having levelsections as long as desired. The level tracks can be made in a widevariety of configurations such as circular, figure-eight, elliptical,etc., and they can, of course, include non-level sections as well.Tunnels or hidden areas of same nature as those heretofore described maybe stationed at various places along such level tracks.

Referring to the schematic diagram of F IG. 10, it will be seen that ashaft 70 is slidably secured in guides 71, 71 so as to be able toreciprocate in the directions shown by the arrows between limitsdetermined by stop projections 73, 73 on shaft 70. Overcenter springmeans shown as comprising compression spring 72 is connected betweenshaft 70 and a fixed pin 74 to urge shaft 70 to one or the other of itslimit positions. The shaft is shown in an unstable center position inFIG. 10 for use of illustration. Shaft 70 is mechanically connected tooperate the movable pole of a single-pole double-throw switch S.Inasmuch as most forms of toggle switches incorporate their ownOvercenter mechanisms, the overcenter mechanism shown may be deemed tobe that of switch S. Shaft 70 is connected to. both the front bumper 75and rear bumper 76 of a toy car. When another toy car strikes the rearbumper of the car illustrated by FIG. 10, shaft 70 is translated in adirection so as to close the movable switch arm to contact a, therebyapplying power from battery B to drive the toy car motor M, so that thecar drives forwardly. Motor M preferably comprises a small permanentmagnet field DC motor. Then later, when the front bumper of the toy carstrikes a stationary car, shaft 70 is driven in an opposite direction,opening contact a t and closing contact b of switch S, so that batterypower is disconnected from the motor and a short circuit is connectedacross the motor, thereby providing dynamic braking and rapidly bringingthe car to a stop with minimum coasting. If the armature resistance ofthe motor used is too high, unacceptable coasting might result, and insuch instances I prefer to provide car-retarding means within eachtunnel of one of the forms discussed above in connection with thegravityactuated forms of the invention.

Interesting results can be obtained if various cars of the typeillustrated by FIG. 10 are arranged so that different amounts of impactforce are needed to translate their respective switches, or if differentamounts of impact force are needed to start them than to stop them, orif some of the cars are arranged to travel at higher speeds than others(by using additional batteries or resistors in series with their motors,for example). Under different conditions a moving car then might strikethe rear one of a group of stopped cars hidden in a tunnel, the rear onestriking the one ahead, etc., in domino fashion, so that a number ofcars emerge from the tunnel.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent. from the preceding description, are efficiently attained, andsince certain changes may be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not'in a limitingsense.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as fol- .lows:

1. Game apparatus, comprising, in combination: a plurality of sphericalballs; a track along which said balls may roll in succession in singlefile; means for obscuring a view of one or more of said balls at aselected station along said track; and means comprising a depression insaid track for causing one of said balls which strikes another of saidballs situated at said station to remain at said station.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said track is agenerally-descending track whereby said balls are propelled along one ormore sections of said track by gravitational acceleration.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of said spherical ballsis a different color.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 having a panel,

said track comprising a plurality of successive sections which slopegenerally'downwardly and progress in opposite directions across the faceof said panel.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said track comprises aplurality of successive sections which slope generally downwardly andprogress in opposite directions all within the same plane.

to the face of said panel.

1. Game apparatus, comprising, in combination: a plurality of sphericalballs; a track along which said balls may roll in succession in singlefile; means for obscuring a view of one or more of said balls at aselected station along said Track; and means comprising a depression insaid track for causing one of said balls which strikes another of saidballs situated at said station to remain at said station.
 2. Apparatusaccording to claim 1 in which said track is a generally-descending trackwhereby said balls are propelled along one or more sections of saidtrack by gravitational acceleration.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1wherein each of said spherical balls is a different color.
 4. Apparatusaccording to claim 1 having a panel, said track comprising a pluralityof successive sections which slope generally downwardly and progress inopposite directions across the face of said panel.
 5. Apparatusaccording to claim 1 in which said track comprises a plurality ofsuccessive sections which slope generally downwardly and progress inopposite directions all within the same plane.
 6. Apparatus according toclaim 1 wherein said spherical balls each comprises a solid ball formedof a material having a coefficient of restitution greater than 0.5. 7.Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said track comprises a flatpanel, means for holding said panel in an inclined position, and aplurality of flat strips affixed to the face of said panel.